This orzo pesto salad combines creamy pesto with soft orzo pasta, salty bacon, crunchy pine nuts, and lots of fresh summer veggies for a delicious summer salad full of bursts of flavor!
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Orzo Pasta Salad with Pesto
Every summer it feels like I’m asked to bring some sort of salad or side dish to every party and get together whether it be a backyard BBQ, a pool party, or really any type of summer party.
This summer we’ve been testing out and developing all sorts of new summer salads – ones that other people likely won’t be bringing because no one wants four of the same pasta or potato salad! And luckily, this pesto orzo salad is not the same traditional pasta salad!
So far I’ve shared a Greek tortellini pasta salad, a Mexican street corn pasta salad, and now today this orzo pasta salad with pesto is the latest in our pasta salad recipes! And I may be biased because I love pesto, but this one just may be my favorite.
I might’ve eaten leftovers all week long after we perfected the recipe. Just maybe.
And I hope that you love this one as much as I do. I know my entire family and my sister’s family did!
Why you’ll love this Orzo pasta salad
- Great for sharing – this orzo salad is the perfect side to bring along to your next summer party or to eat as a light meal during the summer.
- Homemade pesto – the homemade pesto makes all the difference in flavor. I tested this pesto repeatedly until it was the best version out there.
- Easily adjustable – make it exactly what you want with simple tweaks like adding more bacon or swapping out the pine nuts.
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- Pine nuts – It is definitely worth the extra few minutes to toast them so you get the nice toasted flavor that comes with them!
- Basil — the measurement written in the recipe is just for the leaves, not the connecting stems, for it loosely packed (so don’t jam it down). For those of us who don’t have a basil plant, Trader Joe’s sells a box of basil for a good price.
- Garlic – the recipe is written for two cloves but that’s assuming the cloves are normal size – if the cloves are the size of your thumb or bigger, start with one clove and only add a second if you feel like it’s lacking garlic flavor!
- Lemon juice – I always prefer fresh lemon juice but bottled will work in a pinch. You can also omit this if you don’t have any, but it really cuts the flavor of the garlic.
- Arugula – baby spinach leaves will also work with this recipe.
- Cherry tomatoes – I personally love the flavor from the Flavor Bomb tomatoes.
- Cucumbers – you can leave the skin on or peel it off.
- Bacon – the salty bite from the bacon melds all the flavors together and is a must!
- Feta – if you aren’t a feta person, mozzarella pearls are just as good.
How to make Pesto Orzo Salad
This recipe is broken up into three parts – prepping your ingredients, making the pesto, and putting it all together. I’ve included an outline below but make sure to get full instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post!
1 – Prep the ingredients
- Cook your orzo according to package directions, then allow it to cool down while you’re getting the rest of the salad ready to go.
- Toast the pine nuts, then let them cool.
- Cook the chop your bacon into small bite-sized pieces (or use pre-cooked).
- Chop the cherry tomatoes and cucumbers into bite-sized pieces – I prefer to quarter the tomatoes but if you want bigger pieces, you could always half them.
How to toast pine nuts
If you’ve never toasted pine nuts, it’s super easy! Just put them in a dry skillet, put it on the stove and turn the heat to medium-low. Let them toast for a few minutes, until the pine nuts are golden-brown and smell nutty. Immediately remove them from the pan (not just from the heat) and let them cool in a separate dish. It’ll likely take 3-4 minutes but don’t walk away, they go from toasted to burnt faster than you can imagine.
2 – Make the Pesto
- Toss your basil leaves, roasted pine nuts, garlic, parmesan, salt, and lemon juice in the food processor bowl and turn on high until you have a fine mixture.
- Drop down to low and slowly drizzle oil into the mixture. Mix until the oil is thoroughly combined, stopping to scrape the sides as necessary.
- Once the pesto is combined, set it aside to add later.
Tip!
If you are planning on making your salad on a different day, go ahead and transfer your pesto to an airtight container and put it in the fridge until you are ready to use.
3 – Assemble the Orzo salad Pesto
- Grab the orzo, tomatoes, cucumbers, pine nuts, arugula, and bacon and toss them all into a bowl together.
- Add the pesto and stir gently until everything is evenly coated with pesto.
- Sprinkle on the feta and give it one toss, and it’s ready to serve!
Tip!
If you want to make it ahead of time I recommend prepping all the salad ingredients ahead of time, then mixing them together just before you are ready to eat it.
Helpful Tips and Storage Information
Serve fresh for best results. After it sits together for too long the tomatoes lose their crunch and the juices start to blend together.
If you are using pre-made pesto you’ll need 10 ounces to replace the homemade pesto in the recipe.
Save time and make the pesto the day before; it also allows flavors time to blend.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. After that, the bacon will get soggy, and the tomatoes will lose their juice completely.
Recipe FAQs
How many cucumbers do I need?
One large cucumber is roughly 1 1/2 cups. Remember that you can always adjust the quantities a bit, it doesn’t have to be exact. If your cucumber makes more or less than 1 1/2 cups, it’ll be okay!
Do I have to toast the pine nuts?
Yes! Roasting them brings out the nuttiness that makes this pesto recipe better than store-bought pesto. It only takes a few minutes on the stove to turn regular pine nuts into toasted ones!
How far in advance can I make the salad?
You can assemble everything a couple of hours before, as long as it sits in the fridge until ready to serve. I also recommend waiting to add the chopped bacon and feta until right before you serve it so they don’t get mushy.
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Orzo Pesto Salad
Ingredients
Pesto
- 4 cups fresh basil
- ½ cups pine nuts toasted
- ½ cup parmesan shredded or grated
- ¾ tsp salt
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 TBSP lemon juice
- ½ cup olive oil
Orzo Pesto Salad
- 16 ounces orzo cooked and cooled
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes quartered
- 1 ½ cup cucumbers quartered
- 3 cups fresh arugula
- ½ cups pine nuts toasted
- 1 cup bacon cooked and chopped
- 1 cup feta crumbled
Instructions
Pesto
- In a food processor add basil, garlic, pine nuts, salt, lemon juice, and parmesan cheese. Mix on high for thirty seconds or until mixture turns into a fine paste.4 cups fresh basil, ½ cups pine nuts, ½ cup parmesan, ¾ tsp salt, 2 cloves garlic, 2 TBSP lemon juice, ½ cup olive oil
- Slowly add in oil while the processor is on low until the oil has fully emulsified.
Salad
- Cook and cool the orzo according to package instructions.
- Cook bacon and cut into small bite-sized pieces.
- In a large serving bowl, add orzo, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, arugula, pine nuts, and bacon. Mix until everything has been fully combined.16 ounces orzo, 2 cups cherry tomatoes, 1 ½ cup cucumbers, 3 cups fresh arugula, ½ cups pine nuts, 1 cup bacon
- Add the pesto and mix gently until it has been evenly distributed on all of the ingredients.
- Gently fold in the feta and serve cold.1 cup feta
Tips & Notes:
- Pine nuts – put them in a dry skillet then toast on medium-low heat for 3-4 minutes or until they turn golden brown, then immediately remove from the pan to stop toasting.
- Garlic – the recipe calls for two cloves but if your cloves are large (thumb size or bigger), start with one clove and only add the second if you feel like you need it.
- Cucumbers – 1 1/2 cups is about the size of one cucumber – it’s okay if you have a little more or a little less, I just use one cucumber.
- Bacon – 16 slices cooked and chopped bacon is about one cup
- Feta – if you don’t like feta, mozzarella pearls are good too!
Nutrition Info
More Easy Summer Salads
If you love this orzo pesto salad, try these other summer salads next!
- Watermelon mint salad – upgrade your summer watermelon with the addition of mint and creamy cheese!
- Southwestern chicken salad – a great dinner salad paired with the best cilantro dressing.
- Caprese salad skewers – classic caprese salad on skewers for sharing!
- Tropical fruit salad – not your traditional fruit salad, serve it with this delicious fruit dip for the ultimate summer dish!
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